(Bloomberg) -- Australia’s government is likely to secure parliamentary passage of the central planks of its housing policy after the minority Greens party reversed course and agreed to support the legislation following a series of electoral setbacks.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Labor government has put forward two bills that it says will help ease a national housing crisis: a plan to incentivise build-to-rent properties and a shared equity scheme to help lower-income earners buy a home with a smaller deposit.
Greens leader Adam Bandt told a press conference in Canberra on Monday that while his party had pushed the government hard, “we couldn’t get there this time,” referring to efforts to obtain additional policies.
“This issue is not going away, the government had a golden opportunity in this parliament to tackle the big drivers of the housing crisis in this country,” he said. “They’ve chosen not to do it.”
Australia is facing soaring house prices and rental costs in response to a shortfall in supply and a surge in post-pandemic migration. Meanwhile, mortgage holders are struggling under interest rates at a 13-year high with little immediate prospect of relief — even as other countries ease policy.
A Freshwater poll released by the Australian Financial Review last week found housing was the second most important issue to Australian voters.
The Greens, which hold 11 seats in the Australian Senate, or upper house of parliament, had initially sought major concessions from the government to pass the bills. These included larger investments in public housing and the scrapping of tax breaks for property investors.
However, following disappointing election results in the state of Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory, the Greens backed down on those demands and decided to strike a compromise.
The government’s bills will go before the Senate this week for final approval. This is the last parliamentary session of the year and could be the final one before a national election due by May, with the government clearing the legislative decks to give itself the option of calling an early ballot.
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